In sports, the term players' coach is often thrown around to describe those who've had continued success.

On Tuesday the expression went up the ladder one rung to coaches' athletic director.

That was the sentiment of the Texas A&M coaches about athletics director Bill Byrne, who announced his retirement Tuesday at The Zone at Kyle Field.

"I was unbelievably excited about the fact he was so interested in our sports, gave us all the tools necessary to be successful," A&M tennis coach Steve Denton said. "And if we don't succeed it's our fault, because he's given us everything we need."

Denton was one of 13 head coaching hires in Byrne's nearly 10-year tenure as head of the A&M athletic department.

During that time, the Aggies won 45 Big 12 titles and 17 national championships.

"What he's done has never been done at A&M or even [in the] Big 12," said women's basketball coach Gary Blair, Byrne's first hire in the spring of 2003. "[His leaving] is a year too soon. We particularly need him in the first year of the SEC for transition. The SEC may not have been his choice but he's a good soldier like he said. He should have been allowed to retire at his own pace like a Nolan Ryan because of what he accomplished.

The first NCAA national championship belonged to the men's golf team in 2003, when the Aggies won in spectacular fashion on the final hole of the tournament.

"I thought he was a visionary," men's golf coach J.T. Higgins said. "I've worked with other good ADs at other places, but Bill had a much grander plan for where A&M was going facility-wise, competing on a national level. Before we were just trying to win and then we were expected to win. It's such a better approach and I love it."

Higgins arrived at A&M from New Mexico in 2001.

Higgins was one of six coaches hired at A&M before Byrne's arrival who remain and have flourished during his tenure.

Another was soccer coach G. Guerrieri, who welcomed the changes despite having success before Byrne's arrival.

"Those of us that were here before quickly learned we've got to do better than we've done, and that was exciting because he gave us the tools that we needed to do the very best that we could,"Guerrieri said. "His legacy leaving here is, again, the change in attitude, the expectations of all the people in the program, everyone expecting to win and expecting to do it the right way."

Guerrieri won eight Big 12 titles -- regular season and tournaments combined. With the facilities built during that span, A&M hosted three NCAA Championships.

Softball coach Jo Evans hasn't been the beneficiary of an obvious upgrade in facilities yet -- a new softball park was mentioned during his announcement -- but she felt there were other benefits that have helped her win three Big 12 titles and make two trips to the Women's College World Series, one of which ended with an appearance in the final.

"He gave us the resources we needed to be successful," Evans said. "A big thing is salary for assistants and support staff, and we are able to keep those people in place. When assistant coaches are sticking around as long as you are, you have a chance to have continuity and really make things go. He's done that."

One coach who understood completely what he was getting into when hired was A&M baseball's Rob Childress.

Childress was an assistant baseball coach at Nebraska, where Byrne was the athletic director for 11 years, and where teams under his direction won a combined 10 national championships in four different sports along with 83 conference championships.

"He hasn't changed at all and that is one of the reasons I jumped at the opportunity to come work for him again, because I knew if I didn't get it done at Texas A&M it wasn't going to be anyone's fault but mine," Childress said. "He was going to give me every opportunity to be as successful as I could be, hiring good people around me and putting in a program I think I needed to have. He's been 110 percent supportive since I met him in 1998."

One of the more prominent landmarks built under the Byrne regime is Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, where the student athletic center is named in honor of him.

"We didn't know what we'd get as far as remodeling Olsen Field, if [it was] $2 million, $5 million, $10 million. It was Bill Byrne and 12th Man Foundation made it what it is today, the crown jewel of college baseball," Childress said. "And above our trophy case we have the sign 'building champions,' and that's fitting inside the Bill Byrne Student Athletic Center."

The coaches also recognized many more of Byrne's qualities while at A&M, specifically his love for the student athlete.

"To me, I think he was at his very best in terms of interacting with our student-athletes. He didn't just say it, he lived it," Evans said. "He really gets that the only reason he and any of us have a job is because there are student-athletes. He really gets that and has done a great job supporting them."